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Suits to Welly Boots: Farmers Changing the Political Landscape

In 2024-25, we provided external advocacy support to the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN). Our support was for their Suits to Welly Boots programme, a pioneering initiative to connect nature-friendly farmers with their MPs in a time of growing political urgency to address farming and food security. The project aimed to embed sustainable farming priorities in political discourse, to achieve tangible parliamentary action.

A Strategic Start

Using a bespoke constituency matrix (including flood risk, agri-environment uptake, vote margins, and MP receptiveness) to identify 35 rural constituencies. This informed a targeted engagement strategy, ensuring that our limited resources went where they mattered most, including roundtables in Tiverton and Minehead and Penrith and Solway, plus tailored support in North Herefordshire and beyond.

Pivoting from Hustings to Roundtables

When a snap general election curtailed our original plans for public hustings, we pivoted fast. Instead, we facilitated four farmer-MP roundtable events, each designed to foster constructive, solutions-focused dialogue. 32 farmers engaged directly with their MPs and 13 SMART political commitments were secured, including:

  • Parliamentary questions on local procurement and small farm access to DEFRA schemes

  • A proposed cross-party debate on scheme timings and budget allocations

  • Farmers giving evidence to the APPG on Farming

  • An MP advocating for inheritance tax reform for older farmers.

  • Support nature-based farming innovations through the ADOPT programme.

  • Connecting local farmers to community housing schemes for agricultural workers.

  • Commitments to ongoing, structured MP–farmer engagement every 4–6 months

Local media also spotlighted the roundtables, elevating farmer concerns into public discourse.

The roundtables were the visible result of a layered approach designed to embed confidence and capacity in the farming community:

  • One-to-one coaching: 13 farmers received tailored support to research MPs, craft messages, and prepare for meetings.

  • Online training: for 50+ farmers across the Nature Friendly Farming Network.

  • Written resources: Step-by-step guidance now in circulation across partner networks.

This structure enabled powerful moments of influence. Joe Lyall, a young dairy farmer from Cumbria, went from having never contacted a politician to meeting his MP, organising a farm visit, and briefing the Shadow Farming Minister on climate and nature policies within four months.

“I’ve never felt my voice mattered before – this helped me realise it does.” - Joe Lyall, Farmer

This programme has created a blueprint for engaging farming communities with long-term potential. Our constituency matrix is now used to inform other campaign targeting. NFFN are embedding the roundtable format, and we’re connecting farming communities to national efforts like the Climate and Nature Bill.

“Events like this are incredibly valuable for me as an MP to hear directly from local farmers. Representing the views of my constituents in Parliament is a priority for me, and gatherings like this give me the insight I need to do that effectively." - Rachel Gilmore MP